In my previous article, I shared a conversation with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi that took place in 2015 about the application of mindfulness to secular settings.* At the time I was imagining the creation of a kind of manifesto for what I was calling Socially Responsible Mindfulness, which could serve as a resource and ethical guide for those of us who teach mindfulness in secular contexts. I thought of it as similar to the corporate social responsibility model: a set of principles which businesses such as Ben & Jerry’s and Patagonia commit to as a way of being socially accountable to themselves, their stakeholders, and the general public.
That conversation with Bhikkhu Bodhi was very illuminating, yet it also sidetracked me from the original vision because he brought up a number of dimensions that I hadn’t considered. I continue to be grateful for his generosity in sharing the Dharma with such precision, and for his commitment to ending suffering through the work of his organization, Buddhist Global Relief. Bhikkhu Bodhi has also spoken and written with such clarity on the tragedy of Gaza. He is truly one of the stellar engaged Buddhists of our times.
Having had time to digest that long-ago conversation, I feel more ready to continue with the original mission and take a small step to craft something that might be of benefit to mindfulness teachers who believe that social responsibility is important. This is my very modest attempt in that direction, and I hope it attracts others who will contribute their own ideas.
Over the years I’ve been invited to offer workshops and presentations to a number of groups that wanted to incorporate mindfulness into their workplaces, including the Environmental Defense Fund, the Navajo Housing Authority, and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. As I’ve done so, I realize that I’ve tried to adhere to some principles that might be part of a Socially Responsible Mindfulness agreement. I will try to articulate those values here; to me they reflect what it means to hold mindfulness in a context of social responsibility:
• Recognizing the experiential and embodied core of mindfulness practice, I promise to sustain and deepen my own practice through a daily meditation practice, and by attending longer retreats as much as I am able to do so. It is impossible to be an effective and responsible teacher of mindfulness practices if I do not have my own practice. I would venture to say it is even unethical to do so.
• I recognize and acknowledge the source of these teachings in the tradition of Buddhism. I would never expect that participants have to become Buddhists themselves to benefit from these practices, but I do think it’s important to honor the source and the lineage of teachers who have nurtured these practices for more than 2,000 years.
• From a Buddhist perspective, mindfulness is dedicated to the attainment of emancipation from samsara—liberation from suffering. To whatever degree is possible, I vow to offer the practice with this end in mind and support people to identify both individual and collective sources of suffering.
• I recognize that, in a Buddhist context, mindfulness is just one aspect of the Noble Eightfold Path. It was not intended to stand alone. In the original teachings these eight spokes of the wheel were always meant to support each other. I appreciate the way Gaylon Ferguson puts it: “From the beginning, the path of awakening includes all aspects of our human lives: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social. The aim is a mindful life. This means that our relationship to our sexuality and our consumerist economic system, our parenting, and our politics are all part of the path.” (Lion’s Roar)
Given that, I will strive to weave in all aspects of the Noble Eightfold Path, even when teaching in a secular setting.• When I teach mindfulness in secular settings, I vow to hold an awareness of social and environmental issues as I do this work and not be complicit with unjust conditions, such as low wages for workers, unhealthy working conditions, environmental destruction, and other harmful policies and practices.
• If I learn that a client who has invited me to offer mindfulness practices is using this approach as a way to cover up or distract from unethical business practices, I will decline that project. If appropriate, I will have a conversation with the client and share that this informed my decision. If this information comes up after I’ve begun working with the client, I will, to the best of my ability, have a conversation to address these concerns, and be clear that mindfulness is not intended to take the place of treating workers with respect and having workplace policies and practices that are based in ethics and equity.
As I wrote in my previous article for this column, if mindfulness is indeed a movement, I want to be part of a movement that supports people to wake up to the connections between us, that helps us to see that personal stress reduction is not separate from fair wages and safe working conditions, that does not hide from questions about power and privilege. I hope this beginning, no doubt imperfect, attempt to articulate Socially Responsible Mindfulness helps move us a bit closer in that direction.
This is a work in progress. I want to acknowledge that there is likely some good work already going on in this area that I’m not aware of, so I’d appreciate hearing from readers about models you are familiar with. For example, over the last decade a good deal of positive progress has been made in crafting guidelines for trauma-informed mindfulness—see David Treleaven’s work, for one. Is there something similar going on with healthy workplaces and mindfulness? Let me know!
* Toward a Socially Responsible Mindfulness (BDG)
See more
Mindfulness and the Buddha’s Eightfold Path (Lion’s Roar)
Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness Homepage (David Treleaven)
Related features from BDG
From Nichiren to Ikeda: The Soka Gakkai’s Socially Engaged Buddhism
Buddhist Mindfulness Versus Secular Mindfulness, Part 3
Buddhistdoor View: Are We Mainstreaming Buddhist Meditation, Again?
Reflections on Mindfulness Practice: An Overview from the Early Stages to the Age of “McMindfulness”
My Story: Walking the Path of a Female Monastic in Bhutan
Sustainable Investing: Taking a Buddhist Approach to Business
Maia Duerr: Zen, Life, and Livelihood
Thank you for this, Maia. Your principles for Socially Responsible Mindfulness resonate deeply — particularly your point that mindfulness was never meant to stand alone, and that personal stress reduction is not separate from fair wages, safe working conditions, and questions of power and privilege. Since you’re inviting contributions, I’d like to offer some research in the field of marketing and consumer behavior that speaks directly to these concerns.
In 2023, I served as lead author and special issue editor for the Journal of Consumer Affairs on “Mindfulness and Consumer Well-Being” (with George Milne and Elizabeth Miller, UMass Amherst). The introductory article, “Expanding Consumer Mindfulness for Collective Sustainable Well-Being,” directly addresses many of the critiques of secular mindfulness.
The article explicitly engages with the “McMindfulness” problem — that secular mindfulness has been decontextualized from its ethical and wisdom roots, offering temporary respite without fundamentally changing behavior. We argue that for mindfulness to promote sustainable well-being, it must be a threefold practice: mental development, contemplation of causes and consequences, and ethical conduct. Non-judgmental awareness alone is not enough.
We also cite research showing that self-focused mindfulness interventions can actually reduce prosocial behavior — a critical finding that challenges the assumption that any mindfulness is automatically beneficial.
The framework expands mindfulness beyond individual stress relief to what we call “collective sustainable well-being” — recognizing that individual well-being is inseparable from community and environmental well-being. This draws on the Buddhist concept of interconnectedness applied to real-world systems like consumption, addiction, environmental harm, and marginalized communities.
Happy to share the article if helpful. It cites all the papers in the special issue and the different ways marketing research is looking to expand the potential of mindfulness beyond stress reduction.
Here is a link to the articles: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17456606/2023/57/2